Credit where credit is due
Submitted by Forgiven on November 15 2000 17:12:53
In reply to Re: I quote the bible submitted by Gideon on November 14 2000 23:53:17
|
At least you attempt to grapple with the Romans 13 passage; however I Peter 2 v13f does not allow you such an easy way out. "Submit yourself to every ordinance of man for the Lord's sake, whether it be to the king as supreme......" KJV or the more modern translation: "Be subject for the Lord's sake to every human institution" So The governing authorities are those of the church. Intersting interpretation - but it won't fly once I Peter is looked at :-) Do you say that as blood bought, bible believing Christians we are to submit to an ungodly group who seek our destruction? Since Peter tells me to, who am I to disagree? I think not. We cannot serve 2 masters. Which Kingdom do you choose? Where there is no conflict, it is a matter of obedience to God to obey the government. If there is a conflict, then it can, in extrordinary circumstances be right to refuse to obey. I hope I would have refused if I had been conscripted to work in the Auswitch gas chambers, but to obey in the matter of paying taxes is not an issue where the law of God and the law of the land are in conflict. Why did Christ "prevent" Peter? 1. Peter gave a witness. That was 1 out of 2 needed for a lawful accusation. How dare Peter answer for the Lord. 2. Jesus asked Peter who pays the tribute, the stranger (as in a tariff, which our Constitution calls for) or the chiuldren of the kingdom. Peter says the stranger. Jesus says, then are the children of the kindom FREE.....sounds clear enough for me! This passage - Mt 17 v24-27 - one of the most obscure in the New Testament - is hard to interpret, and to use it to undermine the unambiguous instructions of other parts of the New Testament is a bad approach to general theology. The key however lies in the realisation that the tax was a POLL tax - levied on all JEWISH men to support the TEMPLE. It is thus a religous duty under the old covenant, and not a matter of the religous duty of those of us who are not by blood the children of Jacob. Jesus's teaching is a reminder to his Jewish followers that they should not give offense to the Jewish leaders. Of course your admission that tariffs are legitimate means that the Boston tea party becomes a little wrong?! We(people) are Ceaser in the US...the Ceaser of Rome was under the spirit of this world...satan! Sorry can't follow him. When did the people of the US declare themselves free of the spirit of the world? Your taxes you pay go to the private Fed Reserve corp...not part of the government. Check it out.... So - the authority I am subject to tells me to do something. Whether that is to pay the money to Federal Reserve Board or the US Treasury is irrelevant - it is the lawful instruction of a lawful authority whom God has told me to obey. Who am I to disobey God's instruction? Bible says lawfule money is gold or silver. Is your Fed Reserve "Note" back by silver or gold? NO..it is a note of debt which must be repaid. So I am being told to pay specified pieces of paper, not REAL money. It is still a lawful instruction of a lawful authority whom God has told me to obey. Who am I to disobey God's instruction? You do not own anything, and paying taxes is slavery. Jesus died to make men free...not slaves...He came to set the captives FREE. Let's have a look at I Cor 7 v17 - 24. There Paul clearly indicates that your state of freedom or bondage in physical terms is not a very high priority. Yes we are freed from the spiritual bondage of our status as slaves of Satan because of our sin, but any other concern with such status is not a biblical priority. Not much of a vacuous nature here..but to the point! Let's be clear why this issue is not just a minor irrelevance but something of which you need to repent. "Submit yourself to every ordinance of men for the Lord's sake....For so is the will of God that you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men" 1 Peter 2 v13,15; by being exemplary in our obedience, the message of the gospel does not become confused in secondary issues about whether we should pay taxes or not; and people are not deafened from hearing the GOOD NEWS of forgiveness and new life by the allegation of being rejecters of authority. At an international level, it is the lie of the Satan to the Chinese government that the Christians in the People's Republic are a threat to the order that they seek to maintain. So they get persecuted. Instead Christians should resist the temptation to rush into political activism, because they are encouraging such persecution. We have a gospel to proclaim Good news for all the world If we undermine our witness to the overwhelming significance of Jesus's death on the cross, we are likely to result in more people going to hell than need be the case. THAT MATTERS - that the Federal Reserve or IRS are in a legal sense private entities does not, in God's economy Your ministry personally, and the ministry of other Christians to a world in desperate need to hear of the way back to God provided by Jesus's death on the cross is being undermined by your proclaiming of these beliefs. |
Follow ups: